Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake |Cooking With Amanda

I've always been a huge fan of pound cake. Honestly – any cake you can eat with your hands and is acceptable for breakfast is good in my book. I know it kind of has a reputation as being the grandma of cakes, but I don't think that's fair.

Pound cake is super versatile, always up for anything. Top it with chocolate glaze and caramel? Perfection! Whipped cream and fruit? Grand idea. Served with a side of ice cream? I thought you'd never ask! Pound cake is like that friend who is always ready and down for anything, no questions asked.

Pound cake also slices like a dream, always looking gorgeous while other cakes sloppily crumble. I love how they are naturally pretty, taking on the shape of whatever you bake them. Pound cakes don't need a ton of frosting and swirls to make them look pretty – they're that girl with perfect skin who you kind of hate but she's so nice that you can't justify it.

So who's the grandma cake NOW?? (I'm lookin' at you, fruitcake)

Personally, I enjoy a slice or four of pound cake for breakfast. It's less sweet than many coffee cakes, and is dense and sturdy, making it perfect for dipping, if you're a coffee kind of person. I'm really not, but I never turned down a Caramel Frappe, if you know what I mean.

This gorgeous cherry flavored Bundt is full of yummy flavor. The lightly pink batter is flavored with maraschino cherry juice AND a generous helping of chopped maraschino cherries. Swirl a bit of melted chocolate in the batter and you've got one sexy beast of a pound cake, if you don't mind me saying.

I chose to serve this cake with whipped cream on the side, but I think it would be fabulous with a chocolate glaze, frosting, or even a scoop of ice cream and chocolate syrup. It's not too sweet, so you really can't go wrong whatever you do.

Unless you don't make it altogether. That would be totally, totally wrong.

Print Save

Chocolate Cherry Bundt Cake Recipe

Embed

Ingredients

2 sticks salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice, should be enough juice in one 10 ounce jar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups sour cream
10 ounces maraschino cherry, stems removed and roughly chopped
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

For Topping:

whipped cream, optional
maraschino cherries, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 10 inch fluted tube pan and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking soda and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy – two minutes. With the mixer on medium, beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the cherry juice, water, and extract, beating until combined. With the mixer on medium/low, add flour mixture and sour cream alternately, starting and ending with the flour mixture.
Melt chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe dish, stirring every 20 seconds. Remove 1 cup batter and stir into the bowl with the chocolate. Fold chopped cherries into the remaining batter in your mixer.
Spoon cherry batter into prepared pan, spooning in chocolate batter sporadically. Once all the batter is in the pan, swirl with a knife to marble, then smooth the top and place in the oven. Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes before carefully loosening around the edges with a sharp knife, then turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.